His dismissal turned out to be an important moment in the game as Pakistan managed to score only 24 runs in the remaining 20 balls. England pulled things back to restrict them to 340 for 7.

cricketUpdated: May 18, 2019 09:59 IST

HT Correspondent Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Shoaib Malik hitting the stumps with his bat.(Screenshot/ ECB Twitter)

In a bizarre moment in the game, Shoaib Malik smashed his stumps instead of the balls and was declared hit-wicket during the fourth ODI between England and Pakistan at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Friday.

In the 47th over of the Pakistan innings, Malik tried to give himself room to open up the off-side but ended up taking an extra step backwards. In his attempt to play the square cut off a Mark Wood slower one, Malik (41) smashed the stumps instead of the ball.

Pakistan failed to capitalise on Babar Azam’s century. With tournament favourites England naming their final 15-man World Cup squad on Tuesday, Surrey paceman Tom Curran did his selection prospects no harm with four wickets for 75 runs in a maximum 10 overs.

Jason Roy hit a superb century and Ben Stokes carried them home as they beat Pakistan by three wickets, surviving a middle-order wobble to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.

Babar Azam’s century helped Pakistan reach a formidable 340-7 in their 50 overs, yet once again a decent total proved inadequate for the tourists as England wrapped up victory after a tense finale with three balls to spare.

Having hunted down a 359-run target with ease in Bristol in the third ODI, England steadily chipped away at Pakistan’s total with Roy leading the charge, bringing up his eighth ODI century in 75 balls.

At that point, the hosts looked set for another routine win on a ground where they had twice scored more than 400 in the last three years.

Yet when Roy departed for 114 with England on 201-2 their momentum ground to a halt as they lost three further wickets for another 15 runs with Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali departing for ducks.

All-rounder Stokes rode to the rescue, however, smacking 71 not out off 64 balls, assisted by 31 from Tom Curran.